A Brief History of the Adirondack Chair

The Adirondack chair has been around since the early 1900's. It has its roots in the Adirondack forest preserve in New York. Thomas Lee, the owner of the Westport Mountain Spring, first designed the original chair in 1903. Vacationing with his large family in Westport, N.Y., he wanted a truly comfortable lawn chair to furnish his summer home. He began nailing boards together and testing his prototypes with family members. Each prototype was made from a single pine plank and featured wide armrests that have become the hallmark of the Adirondack style. The original chair looked something like the photo below.

After arriving at a final design for the "Westport plank chair," he offered it to Harry Bunnell, a carpenter friend in Westport, who was in need of a winter income. Bunnell quickly realized the chair was the perfect item to sell to Westport's summer residents. Without apparently asking Lee's permission, Bunnell filed for and received a patent in 1904. Bunnell manufactured his plank chairs for the next twenty years. His chairs were all signed and made of hemlock. Original colors were green or a medium dark brown.

The price for original Adirondack chairs depends on the size, age, condition, finish and whether it is a signed Westport.

The Adirondack style has become the mainstay of garden furniture. Our Carolina Adirondack furniture continues a century-old tradition of comfortable furniture that complements porches, lawns, campgrounds, cabins, bed and breakfasts, and private homes.